About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Archive For May 30, 2014

You’ve heard a lot about Berlin as Europe’s culture capital, the city revived by the wall coming down. Berlin also happens to be one of the most popular vacation destinations for Israelis, and I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon and come to Berlin for an extended weekend. Not being the clubbing type, my days…

The Glenlivet Archive 21 Years Old (43% ABV) This malt needs little by way introduction and is the fourth rung in the core expressions of The Glenlivet range. Color: Deep amber Nose: Flowers, dry fruit – prunes and apricot – and sherry, developing after 15 minutes in the glass to much more pronounced dry fruit notes,…

Today is the Laphroaig day at the Feis Ila festival, and I figured this to be a wonderful time to post my notes about the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Laphroaig 20 Years bottle 29.109 titled “Oak and Smoke Intensity”. Scotch Malt Whisky Society Bottle 29.109 – Laphroaig 20 Years, Refill Sherry Butt (59.2% ABV, Single Cask, NCF, NC)…

In that accursed year of 1983, 10 distilleries were mothballed, never to return to production. Among them are the legendary Brora and Port Ellen, but the eight others include two I was especially curious about: St. Magdalene (Linlithgow) and Dallas Dhu. I set out to taste both of them during this trip to Berlin, and …

I set out in search of a Brora in Berlin, and according to the internet lists, I actually found one at the Union Jack. I got my Caperdonich, Dallas Dhu and Imperial tastings (each to get their own OQD note), and saving the Brora for last, came to the special moment. I asked Schlange, the…